Levin, Nathaniel William

London-born Nathaniel Levin arrived in Port Nicholson (Wellington) in 1841 where he set up a drapery, hosiery and haberdashery business known as Levin & Company.

In 1843 he opened a food, liquor, whale oil and whalebone business and also bought a shore whaling station at Cloudy Bay at the top of the South Island.

Levin & Company became a prominent shipping and land agency, general merchant and stock-and-station agency.

Levin was a founding member of the Wellington Club in 1841 and highly respected in the business community. He was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1869, the first Jew to become a member of the upper house.